Ruling party pledges rejection of deoligarchisation bill if EU Commission removes it from candidacy conditions

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday claimed the GD would reject the deoligarchisation bill if the European Commission removed the adoption of the bill from its 12-point conditions outlined last year for granting the European Union’s membership candidate status to the country. 

 

The comment came following Monday’s opinion by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe that recommended the Georgian authorities to drop the specific draft law and instead carry out large-scale institutional reforms to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of few. 

 

Kobakhidze claimed the EU Commission’s candidacy conditions for Georgia and the Venice Commission opinion “contradict each other”, saying the Venice Commission had proposed solving the issue with a “systemic approach”, while the EU Commission had backed a “personalized approach”. 

 

“The very word deoligarchisation means a personal approach”, he said, adding “so it turns out the Venice Commission does not like the personalised approach. The European Commission tells us that we have to follow a personalized approach”. 

 

Kobakhidze claimed once the European Commission accepted the Venice Commission’s stance, the GD would “immediately cancel the law” that he said would be passed in all three readings before the end of this month.

 

He added considering the “controversial approach”, the deadline for entering the law into effect had been extended to March 1, 2024.

 

The Venice Commission recommended the Georgian authorities to conduct a “deep and comprehensive analysis” of the existing systemic measures in terms of structural gaps, powers and coordination in order to combat oligarchic influence in the country.